Education: Students invited to INSPIRE

High school students in communities surrounding NASA's John C. Stennis Space Center are invited to participate in NASA's Interdisciplinary National Science Program Incorporating Research Experience (INSPIRE) Online Learning Community. Applications are being accepted from May 3 through June 30. NASA will make selections for the program in September. Selectees will participate in an online learning community in which students and parents have the opportunity to interact with their peers and NASA engineers and scientists, including some from Stennis Space Center. The online community also provides appropriate grade level educational activities, discussion boards and chat rooms for participants and their families to gain exposure to the many career opportunities at NASA. For more information, visit http://www.nasa.gov/education/INSPIRE. (Source: NASA, 04/29/10)

Propulsion: SSC "critical" for NASA

Sen. Thad Cochran, R-Miss., says he's "gained assurances" that Stennis Space Center will have a robust future as a testing facility whether or not Congress agrees to the sweeping changes proposed for NASA by the Obama administration. Cochran questioned NASA Administrator Charles F. Bolden Jr. about Stennis during a hearing to review the FY2011 budget request for the space agency. Bolden stressed the need for a "robust testing program" and pointed to $312 million for commercial space testing, some of which will take place at Stennis. Bolden also noted ongoing work to retrofit the A-3 test stand at Stennis and the overall need to test space engine propulsion and Heavy Lift Vehicle systems. "Stennis is critical," Bolden testified. (Source: Mississippi Business Journal, 04/26/10)

Research: Dolphin population rebounds

Nearly five years after Hurricane Katrina hit the Mississippi Gulf Coast, dolphins have re-establishing their homes there, based on the research of a University of Southern Mississippi professor and his students. The findings of Dr. Stan Kuczaj, professor of psychology and director of the Southern Miss Marine Mammal Behavior and Cognition Laboratory, were featured in an article published in Marine Mammal Science. A dramatic increase in the number of dolphin calves in the Mississippi Sound were documented by Kuczaj’s team two years following the Aug. 29, 2005 storm. Kuczaj's team believes the decrease in commercial and recreational fishing following Katrina may have resulted in increased fish populations for the dolphins to prey upon, which in turn could have resulted in more successful births. The researchers also found that dolphin foraging is sometimes interrupted by boats, and so the reduction of boat traffic following Katrina may have allowed the dolphins to be more efficient hunters. (Source: University of Southern Mississippi, 04/23/10) Note: USM has marine science activities at the Hattiesburg, Miss., campus, Gulf Coast Research Lab in Ocean Springs, Miss., and Stennis Space Center, Miss.

Profile: NOAA settles in new building

PASCAGOULA, Miss. - The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is settling into its new, $23 million building in downtown Pascagoula. Lisa Desfosse, laboratory director, said NOAA has 107 employees in the building, as well others at the Pascagoula dock and a group at John C. Stennis Space Center that does engineering work. The 53,000-square-foot building houses the Southeast Fisheries Science Center's laboratory, the National Seafood Inspection Laboratory and the Documentation, Approval and Supply Services. Resources surveys are the main function of the lab, and it also monitors Gulf of Mexico "dead zones." (Source: Mississippi Press, 04/25/10).

Workers: Stennis honors employees

Employees of John C. Stennis Space Center were honored by NASA's Space Flight Awareness program for their dedication to quality work and flight safety. Honorees were Jeff Henderson, Scott Olive, Amy Rice and Barry Robinson, all with NASA; Jeffrey Bradshaw, Peter Lamb and Peter Taggard, all with Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne; Theresa Spears with Applied Geo Technologies; James Fleming Jr. and Kenneth Hawkins, both with the Jacobs Technology Facility Operating Services Contract Group; James Cain and Charles "Barney" Nokes, both with the Jacobs Technology NASA Test Operations Group; and Deanna Dartez with SaiTech Inc. (Source: Hattiesburg American, 04/24/10)

Space: Director discusses Stennis future

PICAYUNE, Miss. - Even in a turbulent economy and changing space exploration agenda Stennis Space Center is poised to have work for years to come. Patrick Scheuermann, director of Stennis Space Center, was the speaker at the First Baptist Church of Picayune’s weekly power lunch. He discussed the future of space travel and the continued need for NASA's Stennis Space Center. (Source: Picayune Item, 04/23/10)

Research: Groundbreak for MSU center

There will be a groundbreaking ceremony next month at NASA's John C. Stennis Space Center for the new Mississippi State University Science and Technology Center. The event is May 3 at 10:30 a.m. CDT. The new center will house the Northern Gulf Institute, the NOAA cooperative institute funded at MSU and launched in 2006. NGI, a cooperative research effort, includes MSU, Florida State University, Dauphin Island Sea Lab, the University of Southern Mississippi and Louisiana State University. (Source: MSU, 04/23/10)

Education: Science center pact signed

A construction contract was signed earlier this month for the state-of-the-art Infinity Science Center planned near NASA's John C. Stennis Space Center in south Mississippi. Ground was broken for the center late last year, and Roy Anderson Corp. of Gulfport plans to begin construction on the 72,000-square-foot, $28 million science and education center in May. The Mississippi Department of Transportation is set to begin construction of a $2 million access road to the new center. (Source: Lagniappe, April 2010)

Propulsion: Work continues on E-1

Work continues at NASA's John Stennis Space Center to prepare the E-1 Test Stand for testing the AJ26 rocket engine that Orbital Sciences Corporation will use to power commercial transport flights to the International Space Station. Last month, 6,500 gallons of rocket propellant fuel was delivered to the test complex. The fuel will be used for testing the AJ26 engines beginning this summer. NASA has partnered with Orbital to provide ISS servicing flights through the agency's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services initiative. (Source: Lagniappe, April 2010)

Propulsion: TMS delivered

The thrust measurement system for the A-3 Test Stand under construction at NASA's John C. Stennis Space Center was delivered last month. Once complete, the A-3 stand will allow simulated high-altitude testing on the next generation of rocket engines for America's space program. Work on the stand got underway in 2007, with activation scheduled for 2012. The stand is the first major test structure to be built at Stennis since the 1960s. (Source: Lagniappe, April 2010)

Computers: NVTouch computer launched

NVision Solutions Inc., a member of the Mississippi Enterprise for Technology at NASA's John C. Stennis Space Center, has released NVTouch, a multi-touch, multi-user surface computer. The system provides a way to interact with digital information using touch. NVision launched U.S. sales of the system with installation at NASA Headquarters in Washgton, D.C., and the NASA Stennis Space Center Emergency Operations Center in Mississippi. (Source: The Stennis News, March 2010)

Profile: Themis Vision Solutions

Themis Vision Systems, a member of the Mississippi Enterprise for Technology at NASA's John C. Stennis Space Center, is in a full court press to expand its customer base. It has distributors for its hyperspectral imaging systems in Japan, China and Canada, and has its sights set on Europe. "We are entering into an exciting time in our growth as a global provider of hyperspectral imaging systems and services," said CEO Mark Lanoue. On a recent trip to China, he was able to use his equipment on the famous, 2,000-year-old Terra Cotta Army. (Source: MsET newsletter, March 2010)